阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
Antarctica (南极洲), the southernmost part of Earth, is covered 1. snow and ice all year round. 2. it has amazing views, many are still frightened by this icy desert.
But 34-year-old US explorer Colin O' Brady is different. Three 3. (month) ago, he became the first person 4. (cross) Antarctica alone. During the 932-mile journey, O' Brady spent 54 days in extreme conditions. He had to push 5. (he) to the limit. He carried everything he'd need on a sled. But even with enough food, O' Brady began to become 6. (thin) and weaker after six weeks. “I 7. (lose) a ton of weight so far. My legs feel more like the size of my arms at this point,” he wrote on US social media Instagram.
Adding to the pressure, O' Brady was racing against Louis from the UK. The two men set off together, with Rudd 8. (take) an early lead. But on Christmas Day, O'Brady decided to make 9. final effort without stopping for a rest. Luckily for him he made it, getting to the finish line earlier than Louis.
O' Brady thinks that he has the spirit of exploration in his blood: He is an athlete, 10. loves to move. He also believes we can all have this strength and achieve much.
What is intelligence anyway? When I was in the army I______ an intelligence test that all soldiers took, and, against_______ of 100, scored 160.
I had an auto-repair man once, who, on these intelligence tests, could not______ have scored more than 80. ______, when anything went wrong with my car I hurried to him and he always ________it.
Well, then, suppose my auto-repair man______ questions for some intelligence tests. By every one of them I’d prove myself a______. In a world where I have to work with my______. I’d do poorly.
Consider my auto-repair man______. He had a habit of telling______. One time he said, “Doc, a deaf-and-dumb man______some nails. Having entered a store, he put two fingers together on the counter and made ______ movements with the other hand. The clerk brought him a hammer. He______ his head and pointed to the two fingers he was hammering. The clerk______ him some nails. He picked out the right size and left. Well, Doc, the______ man who came in was blind. He wanted scissors (剪刀). ______ do you suppose he asked for them?” I lifted my right hand and made scissoring movements with my first two fingers. He burst out laughing and said, “Why, you fool, he used his ______ and asked for them. I’ve been______ that on all my customers today, but I knew ______ I’d catch you.” “Why is that?” I asked. “Because you are so goddamned educated, Doc. I knew you couldn’t be very ______.”
And I have an uneasy feeling he had something there.
1.A.received B.wrote C.failed D.chose
2.A.an exam B.a total C.an average D.a number
3.A.always B.possibly C.certainly D.frequently
4.A.Then B.Thus C.Therefore D.Yet
5.A.drove B.checked C.fixed D.changed
6.A.designed B.answered C.practised D.tried
7.A.teacher B.doctor C.winner D.fool
8.A.brains B.effort C.hands D.attention
9.A.too B.as usual C.again D.as well
10.A.lies B.jokes C.news D.tales
11.A.bought B.needed C.found D.tested
12.A.hammering B.cutting C.waving D.circling
13.A.nodded B.raised C.shook D.turned
14.A.brought B.packed C.sent D.sold
15.A.clever B.other C.right D.next
16.A.What B.Which C.Who D.How
17.A.imagination B.voice C.hand D.information
18.A.trying B.proving C.practising D.examining
19.A.at once B.right now C.in fact D.for sure
20.A.smart B.clear C.slow D.silly
"Tennis is as good for the mind as it is for the body," says Dan Bloxham, head coach at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. 1..
Family fun
Tennis is the perfect sport for the whole family to enjoy together. When playing with children, use red or orange tennis balls as these are softer than the classic yellow ones used at Wimbledon and will make the game easier and slower to play.
Super social
Instead of going to the pub, why not grab a bat and catch up with friends over a game of tennis? It’s one of the most social sports around and a great way to meet people. 2., you could turn up at a club anywhere in the world and be able to play even if you don’t speak the language.
3.
Tennis is a huge challenge when it comes to fitness and uses all the muscles in your body as you run across the court, jump to reach high shots and race to the net.
Unlike cycling, which puts emphasis on the muscles in your legs, tennis uses the arms, legs, shoulders, and core, providing a total body workout. 4.. It also improves coordination(协调), strength and cardio fitness.
Digital Detox(脱瘾)
5.. The game requires your full attention and as you are mentally engaged, you can’t watch a screen. Because the game involves concentration and the need to hear both the ball and your opponent, you also can’t listen to music.
A.Wonder workout
B.Huge Outdoor Challenge
C.And as it is a universal game
D.Playing tennis provides a real break from technology
E.Playing is so great a good calorie burner for getting in shape
F.Here he explains why taking up tennis is a good idea for everyone
G.If you can’t find a group, search Facebook or ask the front desk at your gym
Each year on February 2nd, there is special festival called Groundhog Day (土拨鼠日) forecasting event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. When it comes, people from around the world, including 5,000 in the small town today, watch this tongue-twisting(发音饶舌的) small town for a sign from one groundhog that supposedly predicts when that years' spring will arrive.
If it's a cloudy day outside when the groundhog pops from its cave, then spring will arrive early that year. However, if it is sunny outside, the groundhog will supposedly be scared by its own shadow, hiding underground for six more weeks of cold weather.
Of course, Punxsutawney Phil's prediction is no more able to guarantee the extended forecast than your local weatherman. ABC News reports that an analysis by the National Climate Data Center found that Phil's predictions are more often wrong than right.
Philis is also found to have made some unpleasant predictions. Ever since 1887, he has predicted 99 extended winters and just 16 early springs .Nine of the years' predictions were unavailable, according to ABC.
The holiday began as a German tradition in 18th century and became even more of a cultural phenomenon after the 1993 film Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.
Punxsutawney Phil has become a celebrity in his own right. Each year, the fatter animal with long teeth is watched by millions as he emerges from a cave in the town he is named after. Phil has become so beloved by the town that he actually lives in the local library with his “wife" Phyllis.
Taking inspiration from the hard state of Bill Murray’s character in the classic film, Yahoo contributor Owen Rust says Groundhog Day is a good time to reflect on one’s routines.
1.The underlined word “pops” means “ ”.
A.escapes B.appears C.increases D.hides
2.The reason why Phil's predictions aren't pleasing is that_____________.
A.some of the predictions were unavailable B.Phil wants to do that for fun
C.Phil likes to make unpleasant predictions D.he has predicted more late springs
3.How does Punxsutawney Phil become a celebrity?
A.By an accident. B.From people's life improving.
C.By his own attractive force D.From much money raised by the town.
4.Which does this passage mainly talk about?
A.The National Climate Data Center B.A German tradition
C.A tongue-twisting small town D.Groundhog Day weather forecasting
Computer scientists have hoped to give robots technical skills to help them recognize, process and react to humor. But these attempts have mostly failed. AI (人工智能) experts say that in many cases, attempts to make robots understand humor end up producing funny results, but not in the way they were supposed to.
Tristan Miller studied more than 10,000 puns (双关语) in one research project. The pun is a kind of joke that uses a word with two meanings. For example, you could say, “Balloons do not like pop music.” The word “pop” can be a way of saying popular music; or can mean the sound a balloon makes when it explodes. But a robot might not get the joke. Tristan Miller says that is because humor is a kind of creative language that is extremely difficult for computer intelligence to understand.
Allison Bishop is a computer scientist and she also performs stand-up comedy. She explained that machines are trained to look for patterns. Comedy, on the other hand, relies on things that stay dose to a pattern, kit not completely within it. To be funny, humor should also not be predictable, Bishop said. This sets a great obstacle for a machine to recognize and understand what is funny.
Bishop says since robots have great difficulty understanding humor, she feels like it gives her better job security as a comedy performer. It even made her parents happy when her brother decided to become a full-time comedy writer because it meant he wouldn’t be replaced by a machine, she added.
Despite the difficulties, Darmstadt University’s Miller says there are good reasons to keep trying to teach humor to robots. It could make machines more relatable, especially if they can learn to understand sarcasm (讽刺), he noted. Humans use sarcasm to say one thing but mean another. But Kiki Hempelmann thinks differently. “Teaching AI systems humor may make them find it where it isn’t, and they may use it where it’s inappropriate,” he said. “Maybe bad AI will start killing people because it thinks something is funny,” he added.
1.What does the author most probably want to show in Paragraph 1?
A.Robots’ influence on the scientific development.
B.Robots’ challenges of making sense of humor.
C.Computer scientists’ devotion to technical skills.
D.Computer scientists’ concern about AI’s development.
2.Examples mentioned in Paragraphs 2 and 3 are intended to ___________-.
A.prove robots do poorly in funny work
B.explain robots aren’t as intelligent as humans
C.describe language is complex and changeable
D.show language can’t be taught in a set pattern
3.What does the underlined word “obstacle” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.Barrier. B.Record.
C.Message. D.Possibility.
4.What can we infer about teaching AI system humor from the last paragraph?
A.It will end up in vain.
B.It may be a double-edged sword.
C.It may help improve humans’ humor.
D.It will attract more computer scientists.
One of the questions surrounding climate change is how it might affect the food supply for a growing global population. A new study suggests that researchers have been overlooking how two key human responses to climate—how much land people choose to farm, and the number of crops they plant—will affect food production in the future. The new study focused on the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, an emerging（新兴的）global breadbasket（产粮地区）that as of 2013 supplied 10 percent of the world’s soybeans. The researchers used variations in temperature and precipitation（降水）across the state over an eight-year period to estimate the sensitivity of the region’s agricultural production to climate change. Those historical comparisons can help in making predictions about the sensitivity of agriculture to future climate change.
The study found that, if the patterns from 2002 to 2008 hold in the future, an increase in average temperature in Mato Grosso of just 1 degree will lead to a 9 to 13 percent reduction in overall production of soy and corn. “This is worrisome given that the temperature in the study region is predicted to rise by 2 degrees by 2050,” said Avery Cohn, who led the study.
Most studies of this kind look only at the extent to which climate shocks affect crop output. But researchers can miss critical dynamics（动力）that can affect overall output, says Leah VanWey, one of the study’s senior authors. “If you look at output alone, you’re not looking at all of the information because there are economic and social changes going on as well,” said VanWey.
If output decreases, farmers may put less land area into production because it’s not profitable. Farmers may also vary the number of crops they plant in a growing season. Double cropping is common in Mato Grosso. But if the weather is bad, farmers may change their decision to plant a second crop.
1.The value of the new study lies in _________.
A.increasing the number of crops people plant
B.focusing on an emerging global breadbasket
C.making predictions about human responses to climate change
D.controlling people’s choice of their farming area and crop numbers
2.According to Avery Cohn, by 2050, the overall production of soy and corn will _________.
A.remain almost unchanged B.decrease by more than 9%
C.increase by from 9% to 13% D.decrease by more than 18%
3.What can we know about the similar studies mentioned in paragraph 3?
A.They can’t provide exact information to farmers.
B.They don’t take into consideration some key factors.
C.Their discouraging results largely affect overall crop output.
D.They pay too much attention to economic and social changes.
4.What is the last paragraph mainly about?
A.Farmers’ possible reactions to climate shocks.
B.Possible climate change in Mato Grosso.
C.The benefits of double cropping in Mato Grosso.
D.Farmers’ decision on planting crops in the future.
